maltbie



(No Model.) 2 sheets-sheet 1.

P. L. MALTBIE.

LATCH.

No. 310,900. 1 PatentedJan. 20, 1,885..

JEM; M M2 7%@ Magda/@MQ W (No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2. P. L. MALTBIE.

LATCH.

No. 310,900. I Patented Jan. 20, 1885.

Warren Strains Partnr @erica PAUL L. MALTBIE, OF NEVARK, NFV JERSEY.

LATCH.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 310,900, dated January 20, 1885.

Application filed April 5, 1884. (No model.)

To @ZZ whom t may concern.-

Beit known that l, PAUL L. MALTBIE, a citizen of the United States, residing in Newark, Essex county, New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Automatic Door-Fasteners, fully described and represented in the following specification and the accompanying drawings, forming a part of the same.

The object of this invention is to provide an automatic latch for the doors of refrigerators,safes, and other receptacles, and to combine with such latch a means of pressing the door closely shut. latterobject have been used heretofore, that the access of air might be prevented to the chilled contents of ice-boxes; but such pressing devices have not generally been made so as to close automatically, and are therefore liable to be neglected by those who use such receptacles for food or in storing meat and fruits. Such latches or levers have generally been attached to the casing or door in such manner that they are liable to be turned into the path of the door when closing, while my device is preferably attached to the door itself, and, being constructed to engagethe catch automatically, can therefore never get in the Way of the door when closing the same.

This invention consists in the combination, with a combined lever, latch, and handle pivoted upon the door, of a catch secured upon the casing, and provided with inclines upon the inner and outer surfaces of the holding tooth. It also includes certain constructive features for making the parts reversible for use with right and left hand casings, and a particular arrangement of the parts when applied to the door so as to secure an automatic operation of the latch.

In the drawings annexed, Figure 1 is a front view of a refrigerator provided with my improved catch. Fig. 2 is4 a front view of the catch, drawn full size, for such a refrigerator. Fig. 3 is an edge view of the same applied to a part of the door and casing, which parts are shown in section. Fig. 4 is a view of the catch, taken from the inner end, showing the inner and outer inclines on the tooth, and having the latch shown in section in contact with the inner face of the tooth. Fig. 5 is an edge view of the pivot-brace, showing the space be- Latches for leffecting the tween its feet for the movement of the lever. Fig. 6 is an inside view of the same with the adJ ustable stop indicated in dotted lines. Fig. 7 is a front view of the seat detached from the brace; and Fig.` 8 is an edge view of the same, showing the projection of the stop. Fig. 9 is a side view of a dat plate having a reversible catch formed by notching its opposite edges and beveling its end at opposite sides to form the double inclines required, such plate being inserted in the casing adjacent to the edge of the door. Fig. 10 is a front view of the same catch and the brace F with parts of the door and casing with the catch and brace in position thereon. Figs. 11 and 12 are similar sections of a casing with a catch like that in Fig. 3, and a foot upon the catch to hook into the easing, Fig. 11 showing an additional foot to hook over the inside of the casing 5 and Fig. 18 is a front view of the same catch detached from the casing.

The catch, lettered A in Fig. 1, is secured to the door-casing B,with a tooth, c, projecting toward the edge of the door C. lhe latch D is formed at one end of a lever, D, which is provided with a handle, D, at the opposite end, and pivoted to the door at a point between the catch and handle at E. The catch is constructed with an incline, c, upon its outer side, and the latch is formed with a roundedextremity adapted to slide over such incline when the door is closed, and to thus elevate the handle, as shown in'Fig. 1. "lVhen the door is nearly closed, the latch passes under the edge of the tooth, whose thickness is limited by the formation of inclines upon both its inner and outer sides, and the weight of the handle then presses the latch into contact with the inner incline, c. Should the door be pushed no farther, the catch serves to hold it locked in such position; but by depressing the lever D until in contact with a stop provided in connection with the pivot,the latch is forced up to the highest part of the inner incline, and the door is completely closed and secured.

To secure the automatic operation of the latch upon the outer incline, c, it is obvious that the latch must be secured upon the door in the proper relation to the catch, and must be provided with a stop to retain it in such relation. To effect this result I provide the ICO .door is merely pushed by the operator.

pivot E with abrace, F, the latter being secured to the door above and below the pivot by feet f f, and the lever being constructed to strike some part or attachment of the brace when in the proper position to close automatically upon the incline c. For the convenience of making this vstop reversible in relation to the pivot, I prefer to construct it upon a seat, G, interposed between the lever and door, and formed with a projection, g, as shown in Figs. 7 and S, which can be set at one side or the other of the footf (as indicated in the full and dotted lines r/.in Fig. 7) by merely turning the seat upon the pivot E when applying the brace and seat, with the lever, to the door. To make the catch equally reversible, I construct it with two opposed inclines upon both the inner and outer sides of the tooth a, thus forming a ridge or crown at the middle of either of such sides, and producing thin edges at the top and bottom of the tooth. The outer ridge of the tooth is made acute; but the inner one, where the inclines c c meet,- is gradually rounded, so as to form a suitable bearing for the latch when the latter is fully closed and the lever pressed against the stop, as indicated in dotted lines at D and g, inside the brace. (Shown in Fig. 6.) When afxing the pivot E and stop g to the door, the latch may be adjusted to slip a little past the rounded bearing formed at the apex of the inner inclines, and be thus prevented from working back so readily as if it rested upon the inclined surface.

To fit the lever for operating against the four inclines, c c and c c-, its corners are all rounded, as shown in the section of its bearing end in Fig. 4.

It will be seen from the above that the automatic operation of the latch involves means for securing and holding the latch in a Xed relation to the catch, means for pressing it into the latter upon the inner side, and means for detaching it, when desired. The leverhandle D2, arranged to project beyond the pivot E at the opposite side from thelatch D', furnishes all the required means to thus operate the latch and to pull the door open when unlocked, while the catch, furnished with inclines upon its inner and outer faces, as described, furnishes the means for making the latch close and lock automatically when the B this construction the operator can push and close it whenY the hands are too full to operate a latch.

To prevent the bearing end of the latch at D from striking the outer ridge of the opposed inclines c, the pivot of the lever D requires to be placedI below the centerv of the catch, as shown in Figs. 1 and 10, and the latch will then readily slide down the incline and automatically catch on the inner ineline.

Figs. 11 and 12 show amodified foot for the same style of catch as in the previous Figs. 1, 2, 3, the foot being extended within the edge of the door-casing, and provided with a hook or rib, A, to engage inside the woodwork of the casing, and thus resist more effectively the strain upon the inclines c when the door opposes great resistance to closing.

As the doors ot large meat-safes are very apt to swell from dampness, and to close with considerable difficulty, the strain upon the catch could be poorly sustained by screws in the foot of the catch, and hence the importance of litting the foot into the wood-work, in the manner described. A catch with different form of head is shown in Figs. 9, l10, and 11, adapted to fit into the wood more readily than the one shown. in the other Iigures. It consists merely in a flat plate with a T-shapcd head having the inclines c and c at opposite sides or edges, and provided with a foot, A', at the inner end to engage within the casing B. v

As the casings of large doors are usually made with rabbets, asshown in Fig.11,the catch may have its foot inserted under the first layer of wood, as shown in full lines -in Figs. 9 and 11, or be made long enough to be mortised through the whole thickness of the casing, and pushed through from theinside, as shown in the dotted lines A in the same figures. When the foot is thus supported by contact with the inner side of the casing, the catch needs no holding-screws to resist the tension on the inclines c, but is adapted to resist the severest strains imposed upon the catch by the doors of large ice-houses when warped by moisture.

I am aware that an automatic latch is not new, and do not therefore claim such an invention, but am not aware that any 'automatic latch has been combined with a catch having inclines operating like those at c in my construction, and combined with a handle adapted to press the latch forcibly into such inclinedcatch. On the contrary, the handlevers heretofore used have never been constructed to operate automatically, but have required manipulation both to open or shut the door, and have always been in the way of closing the door, unless carefully turned in the opposite direction.

I am also aware that a right-and-left stop has been applied to a cupboard-latch, and do not therefore claim such stop, except as con structed by me. My invention may therefore be distinguished from others by the provision of double inclines in the catch, and the application of the hand-lever to the latch in such manner that its weight operating downward serves to press thelatch upward into the catch.

I am'falso aware that it is not novel to make a catch with a projecting tooth like that shown at a in Figs. 3 and 12, nor to bevel the outer side of the same in opposite directions, as such a construction is shown (in United States Patent No.114,910, dated May 16,1871) combined with a double-acting spring-latch; but my invention differs from that referred ICO IIC

to, in that the tooth t is provided with inclines upon both its inner and outer sides, and is combined With a lever adjusted to operate upon only one side of the tooth, and in combination with a iXed stop. I therefore disclaim the tooth except when constructed and used as described herein.

' Having thus described niy invention, vI claiml. The combination, with the latch D, piv oted upon the door, and provided with the handle D2, as described, of the catch A, formed with double inclines upon its inner and outer sides, and secured upon the casing B, the catch and latch being reversible, and adapted for use at the right or left hand side of the door, substantially as herein shown and described.

2. rIhe combination, with the catch A, constructed with the reversible double inclines, as described, of the foot-piece provided with the laterally-projecting` hook or ange A',

adapted to iit inside the casing adjacent to the door, to engage the wood-Work and resist the pull upon the catch, substantially as herein set forth.

3. rIhe combination, with the reversible latch D', of the pivot-brace F, provided with feet at top and bottom, as described, and the reversible seat G, provided with the stop g, constructed to iit against the foot of the brace, substantially as shown and described.

4. The combination, with the latch D, pivoted upon the door7 and provided with the handle D2, as described, ofthe reversible catch A, constructed, as herein shown and described, with the projecting tooth a, having the inner inclines, c, united together upon the inner side ofthe tooth, as and for the purpose set forth.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

PAUL L. MALTBIE.

Vitnesses:

Trios. S. CRANE, H. J. THEBERArr-L 

